View allAll Photos Tagged nonexistent
I shall call thee, "Baby Bump and the Fall Foliage."
Don't be deceived. My "bump" is virtually nonexistent in the mornings, but after I eat lunch, it grows to about this size. So this bump is probably more of a "food bump."
GTWL: Autumn
We were walking through the new Aeon Hinode Mall today, and happened across the strangest candy I have ever seen. This chocolate is packaged as cow shit, with a name to reflect such horrible imagery. To make matters worse, the cow's ass in one wide open hole, which the chocolate falls out of when the cow is shaken. Fun times when our kids can pretend to eat cow shit, no?
I apologize for the grainy photo but this was taken with my piece-of-shit keitai. The lighting in the store was almost nonexistent and the camera on my keitai is definitely not good at all. Anyhow, I just *had* to capture the Super Dooper Crazy Pooper on camera!
Here's a nicely kept Mercedes 300 TD station wagon from the early eighties. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first wagon M-B ever sold in this country, and it had a trubodiesel engine.
Because I associated premium car bands with coupes and sedans only, the idea of a Benz wagon (or "variant," as they say in Germany and the rest of Europe) seemed like a contradiction in terms to me. Lincoln wagons were unheard of, Imperial wagons were nonexistent, and the only wagon Cadillac offered was a hearse! But a posh, well-appointed wagon with room for the rugrats and the rug remnants for their bedrooms obviously appealed to the urban professionals that bought them. Now even Cadillac has a station wagon, the SRX (it's called a SUV crossover, but it's really a wagon!) and other luxury marques have long since followed suit.
Communal refuse collection point, Atyrau, Kazakhstan.
In the same district as the previous photo, but closer to the Ural river, more single storey houses are built around a grid system.
Large bins such as this can often be found, serving as communal collection points for household waste, in lieu of limited or nonexistent municipal services.
They also double as incinerators - waste is burnt in situ, and seeing a smouldering alien is not uncommon.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
First shots with Sony DSC-HX200V using panorama setting.
Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight.
But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic--their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to
fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.
The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour. There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan's mistress.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (1925)
For FGR - Ads for Nonexistent Products
(If I can sell this line of crap, I can sell anything)
A thread I've seen among some groups is people crying about not getting views or considered one of the cool kids. As a result, I've decided to market a new 12 step program. It will target the demographic of people who are so insecure they can't live within their own Flickr skin.
Sure, there are cliques within groups. This holds true within most groups on Flickr. Most of us are glad to be a part of the social network within those groups. We're even protective of it.
All that being said.. my new 12 step self help program will include such chapters as:
Chapter 1. DON'T BE AN ASS - have an opinion, but don't force it on others as the never ending truth.
Chapter 4. Have fun for chrissakes! - this is supposed to be fun ya'll. Isn't it?
Chapter 5. Learn that even goats look good at closing time.
Chapter 12. (a personal favorite) Who is Cialis kidding? If I have a hard on for longer than 4 hours, not only am I NOT going to the hospital.. I'm going to take out a personal ad in the back of Penthouse.
Get your copy of my new book NOW! Call 1800 don't cry.
Photographs by Paul Russell
Learn more about Steve's work: visitsteve.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT
(from the SPACES catalog)
Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, “Can I talk to you about Jesus?”
The word “capitalism” is a red flag. And for good reason—pretty soon either some dude is talking your ear off about “The System” or aggressively confronting you about taxes. Ugh.
At the same time, capitalism is discussed every day using euphemisms like “jobs,” “job creation,” “the business climate,” and discussing whatever “crisis” is deemed relevant; a housing crisis, financial crisis, social security crisis, tax crisis, or fill- in-the blank crisis. But the whole is rarely a topic of frank discussion—much less alternatives or meaningful reform.
As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself. The idea that “there is no alternative” to the way our world works takes away our ability to dream. As citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions on order to move on to new and better visions for the future.
But what to do? Start a conversation about capitalism and friends edge away slowly, and strangers even faster.
This is what art is for. This is what art does well. It creates a space where new ideas and perspectives can be explored. A space unlike any other.
Throughout my artistic career I’ve challenged myself to take on difficult subject matter in ways that are engaging and fun. I’ve found humor and popular culture can open doors to difficult but worthwhile subjects and enable us to envision and move toward new, utopian futures.
The sign starts here in Cleveland and will tour the US leading up to and beyond the 2012 presidential election. People who vote will be given the opportunity to have their portrait taken and give a short statement about why they voted the way they did. There will be a book, website, and videos that document people’s interactions and thoughts.
I’m excited that this piece takes on what for most Americans is a taboo, or even nonexistent subject: whether global, hegemonic capitalism actually works for most people. But whew, talking about that is boring! And telling people what to think is worse! This sign gets passers by to participate in deceptively simple vote (True/ False) which only pretends to offer resolution. Every aspect of the interaction draws them in to more complex questions and conversations, leading to new thoughts and ideas about a better world!
For 50 years it has been unacceptable, politically, in the United States to ask what is basically a straightforward question. We have a particular economic system, it’s called capitalism. We have every right as a society to ask of that system, is it working? Is it working for us? Do the benefits and the costs balance themselves out in a way that says, do we want to keep this system? Or that says, we want to change this system? Or that says, we ought to look at an alternative system. We’ve been afraid to ask that question. We’ve been afraid to have public debates—that’s the legacy of the cold war. We can’t afford anymore to not do that. We have to raise the question.
da Il cavaliere inesistente di Italo Calvino
from The Nonexistent Knight by Italo Calvino
-------------------------------------------------------------
Posters and Art Prints are now available @ ArtFlakes
Copyright © Francesca Alviani All rights reserved
Thanks for visiting!
This fighter doesn't exist. It has an ejectable seat, flick fire missiles and other missiles. I know, lots of missiles, here's a video of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd5H6bZNybU
Somalia is often described as the world's original failed state – a lawless country that has been engulfed in conflict for more than 20 years. According to women in Somalia saying that one of the greatest risk to women's lives is not war, but birth. One of the most dangerous things a woman in Somalia can do is to become pregnant. When she does, her chances of survival drop considerably due to the nonexistent antenatal care, nonexistent medical supplies, the extraordinarily poor healthcare available and the lack of infrastructure. A woman's lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes here is 1 in 14. This is one of the highest rates in the world, second only to Afghanistan. When a woman is due to give birth, she just waits for delivery, praying she doesn't die in the process.
Add to this the constant risk of getting shot or raped, as well as the ubiquitous practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) – something 95% of girls aged 4 to 11 face – make women's lives in Somalia almost unlivable.
More about womens world www.flickr.com/photos/noomad/sets/72157629934029865/
This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.
•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.
Photo by Oscar Leiva/Silverlight
Comasagua is located in southwestern El Salvador in the Balsamo coastal range between San Salvador and La Libertad departments. The Balsamo Range is a coffee producing area with 3,452 coffee farmers with 33,502 ha of coffee. These coffee-dominated watersheds on the south slopes of the Balsamo mountain range are the water sources and recharge areas for water sources for the towns and villages in the upper watershed plus numerous fast-growing tourist cities and towns in the coastal zone directly south of Comasagua, including the city of La Libertad. The high elevation coffee farms in Comasagua produce high quality coffee. Nevertheless, most farms have yields far below potential and investment continues to be limited. Coffee rust hit many of these farmers severely in 2012.
There has never been a significant water resource management program in this area; the water issues are serious and highly conflictive within these watersheds. Collaboration between municipalities, communities and coffee producers is considered weak to nonexistent.
This will by my confession
Often feeling depression
Because I am not with that one
Instead I am with none
I am a lonely heart
Slowly falling apart
Becoming rather distant
Almost nonexistent
Evaporated into the air
Forever in despair
Contemplating my obsessions
These were my confessions
- Confession, by Ryan Martinez
Dedication… Art has always been a part of my life and a lot of interesting things have come from it. I moved to a different State for a few years to go to college. I wasn't feeling the vibe there but stuck it out till the end. The element of realness was nonexistent being around a bunch of rich, privileged, spoiled kids. COUNTERFEIT was the major stepping stone that made me realize art can actually take you somewhere, and on a side note my high school art teacher can suck my dick. I got the Tattoo across my back as a reminder of where I come from, who I am and the entity that made me believe in myself. RIP COUNTERFEIT… The foundation fell apart but I've stayed doing what I do, Stimulating the optics. KAFKA*Prjct is a fresh start and a new mission since 2007. Stay tuned.
Taken for June 09 MSH - Persona Non Grata.
According to Wikipedia - Persona non grata literally means 'an unwelcome person', it is a term used in diplomacy with a specialized and legally defined meaning. In non-diplomatic usage, calling someone 'persona non grata' is to say that he or she is ostracized, so as to be figuratively nonexistent.
After struggling for ideas for this category I thought what better way to illustrate it than with a featureless nonexistent person.
Cedars of Lebanon State Park is a state park in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It consists of 900 acres situated amidst the 9,420-acre Cedars of Lebanon State Forest. The park and forest are approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lebanon, Tennessee.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is known for its cedar glades, a unique type of ecosystem that has adapted to the thin (or nonexistent) soil layers that often occur in the eastern Central Basin. These glades are typically flanked by thick stands of red cedar, a type of juniper tree that can survive in soil layers too thin to support most large wooded plants. The presence of the red cedar in the basin reminded the region's early Euro-American settlers of the Lebanese cedar forests of Biblical fame.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is underlain by Ordovician period limestone, formed roughly 460 million years ago from calcareous ooze deposited by a primordial sea that once covered Middle Tennessee. Weathering of this rock has led to the creation of karst formations such as joints, underground streams, caves, and sinkholes, which are common throughout the park and forest. The forest is located in a flat section of the Central Basin characterized by thin soil layers where the limestone bedrock is often exposed.
Cedar glade communities have adapted to the basin's harsh barrens, where the soil is too thin to support most plant types, especially large wooded plants. The glades are typically open areas resembling rock or gravel-strewn meadows. Most glades include small areas of bare rock where nothing grows, gravelly areas where only grasses grow, and patches of very thin soil that support shrubs and small red cedars. Cedar glades are typically surrounded by stands of red cedar known as cedar thickets. Beyond the cedar thickets, the soil is thick enough to support a hardwood forest consisting primarily of oak and hickory.
The cedar glades of Cedars of Lebanon State Forest are home to 350 plant species, 29 of which are endemic to the cedar glades. Flowering plant species living in the glades include the formerly endangered Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis), the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), Limestone flame flower (Phemeranthus calcaricus), Gattinger's Prairie Clover (Dalea gattingeri), Glade Phlox (Phlox bifida), and Nashville Breadroot (Pediomelum subacaule). Nonflowering plants include reindeer moss and glade moss. Along with the red cedar, trees in the surrounding forest include white oak and shagbark hickory. Wildlife chiefly consists of rodents and birds.
I apologize for the crappy picture...
While helping me upgrade a multimedia projector, my colleague found this cable splice in the false ceiling. Besides the fact the cable is not plenum-rated (jacket can melt and create toxic gases in the event of a fire), the integrity of the shield is nonexistent at the splice.
We ran a new cable to make things right.
ERDC collaborates with the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and others to solve significant projection and protection challenges facing Soldiers in A2AD environments. ERDC’s force projection research is focused on developing and demonstrating technologies for planning and conducting forcible entry operations with nonexistent, damaged or destroyed infrastructure to ensure that the joint force can operate in any environment, at any time, regardless of terrain. Recent successes include demonstration of rapid airport and seaport repair solutions; terrain surfacing kits for unmanned aircraft landing strips, helicopter landing zones, and logistics over shore operations; and remote monitoring technologies and decision support tools for assessing critical infrastructure and littoral zones. To protect facilities that allow the U.S. to project force into denied areas, ERDC is exploring advanced materials and unique structural components that are incorporated into structural hardening solutions, as well as decision support tools that aid vulnerability assessments of critical facilities and mission impact.
A one-off, this little car was allegedly actually used for a number of years. I don't suppose the brakes were very impressive, but it has one heck of a cooling system for its Indian V-twin motorcycle engine.
The combination of essentially nonexistent braking and a food processor for a front bumper may have made this unpopular with local pedestrians.
"may the smell of burning oil & defeat live on forever in our hearts"
Betty the Barina was a car, she was a car in the same way that a Turd Sandwich is still a sandwich.
Betty I will miss your faulty CV joints, your nonexistent brake pads, the one working indicator, the window winder that snapped off in my hand one evening, the windscreen wipers that only had 2 settings; fast and super fast and had to be turned off by timing it just right that you flicked the switch when they got to the bottom. I will miss the smell of burning oil and melting clutch, the big coolant stain on the passenger side floor (my bad), the non-existent air-conditioning, the shitty shitty shitty radio & its coat hanger aerial. Most of all, I'll miss the massive oil stain you were creating on our garage floor.
Betty the Barina, may you continue to piss people off in car heaven!
PS - Betty was still going strong when we traded her in and bought a new car today!
I had to include this photo for old times sake. I found this Gameboy while I was home over Thanksgiving break. I could not believe how unfortunate the images and graphics were, and for the color? More like nonexistent color! Video games today have become so much more advanced over the last 15 years from when I received this as a Christmas gift.
Chloe Brynn Wedlock
Born September 3rd, 2010
4lbs 9oz and 18" long. Tiny but healthy!!
The hospital we are in has Internet but they apparently block everything that I would need. I can't get photos to upload from my computer to Flickr, iTunes store won't connect, and AIM is nonexistent. We finally get to go home today though. Staying in a room for 3 days can make you extremely stir crazy.
Hopefully there will be better photos on here soon. For now, the iPhone is all I have that can reach the outside world.
“The problem isn’t dying; the problem is figuring out how to live.” – Glenn Villeneuve ~ Alaskan survivalist living a subsistence lifestyle sixty-five miles above the Arctic Circle
It is understandable that we are afraid of death, it is one of the most humanistic emotions that we have. It is this fear that allows us to survive. But if all we are doing is just surviving, we are missing out on really living. The worst thing is not dying, it’s never really living at all.
Time will come and go without ever waiting for us to figure out what we are supposed to do with this life that we are given. It needs to be our goal to fathom our purpose as soon as possible in life so that we can take full advantage of as many days as possible.
There are many people all over the world who do not have the luxury to do anything else but survive. They struggle every day to stay afloat; they live life one breath at a time. It is our responsibility to those people to not waste a single second of our lives, to stop focusing on the bad and realize how much good we have around us. But no one can do that for us, no one can wake us up out of the dreary daze that has overtaken us. When need to wake up tomorrow, splash cold water on our face, and exclaim that this is my day, this is the day when I will truly live.
There are a lot of things to be afraid of, but what should top that list is wasting even one second worrying about the rest, instead of living for the best. The one thing that we have complete control over is how we deal with what life throws at us. We can curl up in a ball, we can put our heads in the sand, or we can embrace each moment like it may be our last. We owe it to those who do not have fresh food and water to drink, who do not have a roof over the heads and a bed to sleep in at night, to love each day, and to love each person we come across, because we have so much to be thankful for.
How do you live each day? Are you worried about dying, or are you worried about never truly living? People may remember how we died but they will never forget how we lived. The greatest joy in life comes from helping others realize how amazing their life can be, and we do this by being a living example of how great life really is.
If you’re not sure yet whether you’re living, or just surviving, concentrate on one thing: the person standing next to you. The best way to take full advantage of the moments you are given is to embrace your neighbor like you want to be embraced. When we focus on love, we do not waste a single day. It is your time to shine, your time to finally start living.
When we do it together nothing can stop us from figuring out how to live. Failure is nonexistent when we put our efforts into those around us. Love never fails, and neither do you. Live a life unshackled by the chains of unrelenting time, because now you have broken free.
(The Kenai River called Kahtnu in the Dena’ina language, is the longest river in the Kenai Peninsula of south central Alaska.)
#GlennVilleneuve
#QuoteOfTheDay
#LifeBelowZero
#StartLiving
#LoveOneAnother
@LifeBelowZeroPT
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
Not very good but they are my new favorite nonexistent couple :] comment if you take/use it please :)
The C-208 is loaded with double 8" LF/MF and a single high energy 2" HF driver. Each enclosure is constructed of high grade birch ply-wood and is custom fitted with steel fly hardware that has been test rated for a 7:1 static load, hanging up to 16 enclosures in a single array. Our user friendly hardware allows for hanging and ground stacking applications, permitting the user to stack up to six enclosures.
All C-208 enclosures are hand wired using premium 14 gauge wire and Neutrik brand NL8 connectors. All drivers are built with cast fame baskets for strength and longevity. Our compression drivers have replaceable titanium diaphragms for superb sound quality, performance and durability. We use a standard phase plug design to control the isophasic wave form as well as a wave guide system for smooth coverage and coupling. Our components are designed and built to a commercial standard and have a proven track record on tours ranging from stadiums to festivals of up to 30 shows per month with practically a nonexistent failure rate.
All C-208 enclosures are equipped with a removable back panel that can be disconnected and replaced by an internal TVi multi channel "Class D" power amplifier module. Each power amplifier has a built in multi-channel processor that has been chamber tuned for the C-208 to achieve a flat response curve with pre set limiters, DSP and crossover points. One amplified C-208 enclosure will also power one additional non-powered C-208 enclosure in tri amp mode by daisy chaining an NL8 cable.
We found Andrew Linn drifting around in the almost nonexistent breeze in his Puddle Goose, using plans from Michael Storer as inspiration, but adding significant personal touches.
First shots with Sony DSC-HX200V using panorama setting. Camera auto stitches five frames.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
Russian infantry training with flamethrower sappers.
It is not clear if the flamethrower is a static or portable model. In the center of the photo, sappers in heavy fireproof suits can be seen.
They appear to be waiting to take turns at the flamethrower; one is seen running to the right.
The flameproof overalls were copies of the British Suit, Anti-liquid Fire, Pattern 3023/1918.
Photos of Russian flamethrower sappers in action are virtually nonexistent.
Dylan next to the Apollo 11 (?) command module at the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. May have been a Gemini capsule -- memory imperfect, notes nonexistent
On the Greenbush Line.
So why is this station called a "junction" when there's only 1 line here? And why is it called Nantasket (old name for the town of Hull) when it's located in Hingham? "Nantasket Junction" is the historic name for this station when it was on the Old Colony RR (and later the NY, NH & H RR Old Colony division.) It was a junction of the Boston-Scituate line (same one as the current Greenbush line) and the now-nonexistent Nantasket Line that went from here to Pemberton Point at the northern tip of Hull.
Photographs by Paul Russell
Learn more about Steve's work: visitsteve.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT
(from the SPACES catalog)
Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, “Can I talk to you about Jesus?”
The word “capitalism” is a red flag. And for good reason—pretty soon either some dude is talking your ear off about “The System” or aggressively confronting you about taxes. Ugh.
At the same time, capitalism is discussed every day using euphemisms like “jobs,” “job creation,” “the business climate,” and discussing whatever “crisis” is deemed relevant; a housing crisis, financial crisis, social security crisis, tax crisis, or fill- in-the blank crisis. But the whole is rarely a topic of frank discussion—much less alternatives or meaningful reform.
As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself. The idea that “there is no alternative” to the way our world works takes away our ability to dream. As citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions on order to move on to new and better visions for the future.
But what to do? Start a conversation about capitalism and friends edge away slowly, and strangers even faster.
This is what art is for. This is what art does well. It creates a space where new ideas and perspectives can be explored. A space unlike any other.
Throughout my artistic career I’ve challenged myself to take on difficult subject matter in ways that are engaging and fun. I’ve found humor and popular culture can open doors to difficult but worthwhile subjects and enable us to envision and move toward new, utopian futures.
The sign starts here in Cleveland and will tour the US leading up to and beyond the 2012 presidential election. People who vote will be given the opportunity to have their portrait taken and give a short statement about why they voted the way they did. There will be a book, website, and videos that document people’s interactions and thoughts.
I’m excited that this piece takes on what for most Americans is a taboo, or even nonexistent subject: whether global, hegemonic capitalism actually works for most people. But whew, talking about that is boring! And telling people what to think is worse! This sign gets passers by to participate in deceptively simple vote (True/ False) which only pretends to offer resolution. Every aspect of the interaction draws them in to more complex questions and conversations, leading to new thoughts and ideas about a better world!
For 50 years it has been unacceptable, politically, in the United States to ask what is basically a straightforward question. We have a particular economic system, it’s called capitalism. We have every right as a society to ask of that system, is it working? Is it working for us? Do the benefits and the costs balance themselves out in a way that says, do we want to keep this system? Or that says, we want to change this system? Or that says, we ought to look at an alternative system. We’ve been afraid to ask that question. We’ve been afraid to have public debates—that’s the legacy of the cold war. We can’t afford anymore to not do that. We have to raise the question.
Stopped by the "Store Closing" sale last weekend. This store was depressing even before Sears announced it was closing. It's only worse now.
The sale just began, so the discounts were still pretty weak on most everything, and almost nonexistent (10%) on things like appliances and tools. Don't bother....
On the road to Cut Spring, after the Dome Fire. View is looking southeast toward Kessler Peak and the Ivanpah Mountains. In the foreground is a mostly incinerated landscape of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana), Mojave Yucca (Yucca schidigera), Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa), and Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata) with poor to nonexistent chances of ever returning to its former state. Time will tell.
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Delittle, Fenwick & Co. of York. The card was printed in England.
It was posted in Hastings using a ½d. stamp on Tuesday the 21st. March 1905. It was sent to:
Miss Brent,
103, Malpas Road,
Brockley,
London SE.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Sun Inn,
Tackleway,
Hastings.
Dear Cis,
Having a rest at the
place where you got
sunburnt.
Very nice weather at
present.
Yours truly,
Harry."
The Sun Inn
Alas, the Sun Inn is no more.
The Sun Inn was formerly a beer house called the Cutter Foam, first licensed in the 1860's.
It burnt down in the early hours of the 26th June 1873, the fire being discovered by a fisherman named Swaine who happened to be passing.
Fortunately, the occupants were rescued without injury. The two adjoining buildings which were at one point considered to be at risk were saved.
The pub was rebuilt and re-opened as the Sun Inn in 1876.
In 1878 Breeds Brewery, to whom the pub was tied, would not transfer the licence to a landlord who had been in situ for 12 months, because they believed that he had not conducted business in a proper manner. The landlord in his defence said:
“The house was a brothel
before I took over.”
Stephen Blundell became the landlord in 1880.
In 1939 licensee J. M. Walker acted as unpaid Air Raid Warden for the area, but he had gone by 1944 when a London bus driver applied for the licence.
He left his job without permission, and in court said that after his wife died, running a household was too much to cope with.
He moved to Hastings, and finding the Sun Inn needed a landlord, he applied. His story was reported as:
‘Busman Gets a Place in the Sun’.
The license changed hands again in 1945, when Stephen Charles Sherwood took over from Percy Charles Standing.
Tackleway is a narrow street and delivery lorries found access difficult. Also it was proposed to redevelop the area under the Holford Plan. For these two reasons the Sun Inn closed in 1970. John Cornelius was the licensee at the time of the pub's closure.
The Grover Shoe Factory Disaster
So what else happened on the day that Harry posted the card?
Not a lot, but the day before, Monday the 20th. March 1905, was the day of the Grover Shoe Factory Disaster in Brockton, Massachusetts
The Grover Shoe Factory disaster was an industrial explosion, building collapse and fire that killed 58 people and injured 150 when it leveled the R. B. Grover shoe factory
Following a boiler explosion, the four-story wooden building collapsed and the ruins burst into flames, incinerating workers trapped in the wreckage.
The Grover disaster brought new attention to industrial safety and led to stringent safety laws and a national code governing the safe operation of steam boilers.
-- The R. B. Grover Shoe Factory
The R. B. Grover shoe factory was one of a number of shoe factories in Brockton, a town that employed 35,000 shoe workers.
The wooden building, shaped like a letter E, occupied half a city block at the corner of Main and Calmar Streets. Grover made the popular Emerson brand shoe, and business had been good enough to add a fourth floor.
The factory was heated using steam radiators, with the steam being produced by coal-fired steel boilers installed in a brick boiler house attached to the wooden factory as the crossbar of the E.
When the fourth floor was added, the original boiler was replaced by a larger one, and the old boiler, 17 feet (5.2 m) long and six feet (1.8 m) in diameter, was left in place as a backup.
Since the new boiler could meet the factory's demands on its own, the old one was seldom used; and when used, was used reluctantly.
Grover's chief engineer David Rockwell, who had a first-class engineer's license and twelve years experience, did not trust it.
-- The Explosion
The new boiler had to be flushed out as part of its regular maintenance, so Rockwell temporarily put the old boiler back into service.
Early that cold damp Monday, he fed its coal fire and put the boiler to work heating the building for the arriving day-shift workers.
At 7:45 a.m. the plant manager telephoned Rockwell in order to ask about some strange noises coming from the radiators along one wall. Rockwell had just stepped out of the building, but his assistant assured the manager that everything was in order.
A few minutes later, the old boiler exploded, rocketing up through three floors and the roof.
-- Collapse and Fire
The flying boiler knocked over an elevated water tower at one end of the building, and its full tank smashed through the roof, causing that end of the building to immediately collapse, with the floors pancaking and the walls falling in on top of them.
Many workers who survived the initial explosion and collapse were trapped by broken beams and heavy machinery. Burning coals thrown from the boiler's fire pit landed throughout the debris, starting fires that were fed by broken gas lines.
The factory's more than 300 windows, now blown out, created a chimney effect in the parts of the factory still standing, resulting in a fire hot enough to melt iron pipes and radiators.
The wooden floors, treated nightly with linseed oil in order to keep the dust down, burned quickly. High winds helped spread the fire to nearby storage sheds and neighboring buildings, including a hardware store and a rooming house.
The Campello neighborhood's district firehouse shared a city block with the factory, and its firefighters arrived quickly, as did many local citizens.
Using long timbers as levers, they were able to lift some of the wreckage and rescue some workers before the flames reached them. Local newspapers recount many acts of heroism in the rescues made that day.
Barrels of naphtha, a volatile industrial solvent related to gasoline, were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house. The shed was set afire by the burning coals and the naphtha exploded, throwing sheets of flame onto the wreckage and driving rescuers away.
-- Escape
Between 300 and 400 workers were in the factory at the time of the explosion. Workers in the sections that were still standing escaped down stairways or climbed to the roof; others had to jump from windows because the explosion had knocked some fire escapes off the building.
About 100 workers escaped unharmed and 150 were injured. A number who were only slightly injured went home without reporting their injuries.
Police later related the story of a worker so dazed that he left the scene, applied for a job at another shoe factory, worked all day, then went home to find his family mourning him.
-- Death
An immediate search was made for the chief engineer. Rockwell was at first reported as among the injured, then could not be found, then at one point was reported as having left town.
From her kitchen window, Mrs. Rockwell had seen him sitting in a chair near the boiler house window five minutes before the explosion.
A search of the boiler house the next day turned up a charred body, a bent watch, two rubber heels and a torn piece of clothing identified by Mrs. Rockwell as belonging to her husband.
Survivors were asked to register their names with the police. Body collection began that afternoon, with only bone fragments to be found toward the rear of the factory where the fire was worst.
As families arrived looking for missing workers, grief-stricken relatives ran back and forth between reading the latest survivor lists and watching the recovery of bodies.
Due to the extreme heat of the fire, only a few bodies could be positively identified. Thirty-nine unidentified victims were buried in a ceremony at Brockton's Melrose Cemetery three days later. The disaster's 58th. victim, Hiram Pierce, died on the 15th. April 15.
-- Financial Assistance
On the day of the fire, the leatherworkers union announced that the injured would be paid $5 weekly (equivalent to $170 in 2023) until they recovered, and that the families of the dead would receive $100 (equivalent to $3,391 in 2023) for each family member killed.
Civic leaders created the Brockton Relief Fund, which collected and distributed nearly $105,000 in cash assistance to the families (equivalent to $3,560,667 in 2023).
Factory owner Robbins Grover worked for the rest of his life in order to secure financial aid for the families of those who died.
-- Causes of the Explosion
An assistant engineer who had been with Rockwell five minutes before the explosion stated that when he left, the boiler gauges showed steam pressure to be in the safe range, and the boiler to have plenty of water.
The state Inspector of Boilers checked the boiler's fusible plug and determined that the explosion was not caused by a lack of water.
Rockwell's wife stated that for the previous few days her husband had been irritable because he had to operate the boiler at "a pressure it was unequal to".
A factory official stated that he was at a loss to account for the explosion, and when told of Mrs. Rockwell's remarks, said that the amount of pressure on the boiler was not a matter in which factory officials interfered.
He added that:
"The engineer took his orders in this matter
from the Hartford Boiler Insurance Company,
and if he overworked that boiler, he did it
without our knowledge.
We do not even know why he used the old
boiler this week instead of the newer one".
(The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company provided regular inspection and testing to customers of its insurance program, as well as on-site engineering services, resulting in something of a shared responsibility with boiler owners for safe operation.)
One Grover executive speculated that the explosion might have been caused by a recently installed safety device. C. E. Roberts, a manager of Hartford Steam Boiler, stated:
"So far as I have been able to learn, there
appears to have been no carelessness in
the handling of the boiler, and the explosion,
in my opinion, was caused by a defect that
was impossible to discover."
-- The Inquest
A coroner's inquest was convened. A Grover representative testified that the boiler was inspected in December and found to be in apparent good condition.
Several employees testified that David Rockwell seemed capable of attending to his duties that morning.
Boiler inspectors who examined the ripped-open boiler reported finding a crack in one of its riveted, lap jointed seams.
Experts characterized the boiler, built in 1890, as old technology likely to have a short service life under high pressure. Thousands of similar boilers were then in use in the United States.
On the 29th. March 1905 the district attorney stated that the accident was due to a hidden defect in the boiler, and that no criminal charges would be filed.
As to civil liability, two weeks later a judge ruled that the explosion was caused by a defect that could not have been discovered, and held the company blameless.
He also found that the various insinuations made against chief engineer Rockwell were untrue.
-- The Engineering Study
An engineering study begun as part of the inquest brought new facts to light. At least two barrels of naphtha were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house.
The study said that without the naphtha explosions, the number of deaths would have been only about one-quarter of the actual.
When the naphtha exploded, it crushed one side of the factory building, pinning more workers under beams and machinery. A second outbuilding containing naphtha caught fire after about fifteen minutes and there was a second naphtha explosion, showering hundreds of gallons of the flaming liquid on the burning wreckage.
Engineers estimated the force of the boiler explosion as equal to 660 pounds (300 kg) of dynamite.
-- Bankruptcy
Although his factory was insured, Captain Grover was financially ruined. The R. B. Grover Company declared bankruptcy and assigned its remaining assets, more than 30 Emerson shoe stores scattered around the country, to its creditors.
-- Legacy of the Disaster
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) had been founded in 1880 in response to the boiler explosions that had become common as the use of steam power expanded during the Industrial Revolution.
Between 1880 and 1890 there were over 2,000 boiler explosions in the United States. By 1890, some 100,000 boilers were in service, many of them unsafe.
Inspections were rare, and operating guidelines almost nonexistent. Steam pressures were regularly cranked up to produce additional work.
The Grover disaster, coupled with another fatal Massachusetts shoe factory boiler explosion the following year in Lynn, brought new cries for improved industrial safety.
A new governor demanded prompt action, and a Board of Boiler Rules was formed, drafting a simple three-page set of rules. After the ASME helped overcome manufacturer objections to "needless government interference", Massachusetts passed an Act Relating to the Operation and Inspection of Steam Boilers in 1907.
The Massachusetts laws eventually led to passage of a national boiler safety code.
-- A Subsequent Explosion
Safety improved, but the Massachusetts fatalities would not be the last. Twenty-three people were killed and 94 injured in 1962 when a boiler exploded and ripped through a New York Telephone Company cafeteria at lunchtime.
A city agency later determined that the boiler had been improperly maintained and operated.
For FGR: Ads For Nonexistent Products
Have you ever had difficulty determining the difference between shit and shinola?
Well, I have, and I’ve found a solution, thanks to a collaboration between Ronco and Apple. Together, they've developed an app for your iPhone that solves the puzzle once and for all.
Simply take an iPhoto of the suspect items and load them into the Ronco “Sniffer” application on your iPhone. Thanks to decades of military research, the Sniffer converts the iPhotos to digital representations of iShit and iShinola, then almost immediately displays the results on your iPhone in an easy to understand format with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.
All I can say is thank you, Ronco and Apple, for making my life so much easier!
Yeah, there's an app for that!
This is an actual customer's testimonial. No actors were paid for this advertisement.
I saw my first-of-year Bluebird just 9 days ago, but didn’t get any decent photos. Today however, I found at least 4 birds and got within photo range more than once. With this nearly nonexistent winter, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s still February and not April. Hennepin County, MN 02/21/24
Carpenter bees (the genus Xylocopa in the subfamily Xylocopinae) are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bee in 31 subgenera.[1] Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers (except those in the subgenus Proxylocopa, which nest in the ground). Members of the related tribe Ceratinini are sometimes referred to as "small carpenter bees".
In several species, the females live alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a sort of social group. They use wood bits to form partitions between the cells in the nest. A few species bore holes in wood dwellings. Since the tunnels are near the surface, structural damage is generally minor or nonexistent.
Carpenter bees can be important pollinators on open-faced flowers, even obligate pollinators on some, such as the Maypop (Passiflora incarnata), though many species are also known to "rob" nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollas.
Though personalized art appeared during World War I, and occasionally grew to incorporate the entire aircraft, most pilots carried a saying or a slogan, or a family crest, or squadron symbol. Some were named, but nose art was not common. During World War II, nose art not only saw its true beginnings, but its heyday.
No one knows exactly who started nose art first--it appeared with both the British and the Germans around the first time, with RAF pilots painting Hitler being kicked or skulls and crossbones on their aircraft, while German nose art was usually a personal symbol, named for a girlfriend or adopting a mascot (such as Adolf Galland using Mickey Mouse, something Walt Disney likely didn't approve of). It would be with the Americans, and a lesser extent the Canadians, that nose art truly became common--and started including its most famous forms, which was usually half-naked or completely naked women. This was not always true, but it often was.
The quality of nose art depended on the squadron or wing artist. Some of it was rather crude, while others were equal to the finest pinup artists in the United States, such as Alberto Vargas. For men thousands of miles away from home and lonely, a curvaceous blonde on a B-17 or a P-51 made that loneliness a bit easier. Others thought naked women were a little crude, and just limited themselves to names, or depicted animals, cartoon characters, or patriotic emblems, or caricatures of the Axis dictators they were fighting.
Generally speaking, there was little censorship, with squadron and group commanders rarely intervening on names or pictures; the pilots themselves practiced self-censorship, with profanity almost unknown, and full-frontal nudity nearly nonexistent. After the loss of a B-17 named "Murder Inc.," which the Germans captured and used to make propaganda, the 8th Air Force, at least, set up a nose art committee that reviewed the nose art of aircraft--but even it rarely wielded its veto. For the most part, nose art was limited only by the crew's imagination and the artist's ability. The British tended to stay away from the lurid nudes of the Americans, though the Canadians adopted them as well. (The Axis also did not use nose art in this fashion, and neither did the Soviets, who usually confined themselves to patriotic slogans on their aircraft, such as "For Stalin!" or "In the Spirit of the Motherland!")
When World War II ended, so did nose art, for the most part. In the peacetime, postwar armed forces, the idea of having naked women were wives and children could see it was not something the postwar USAF or Navy wanted, and when it wasn't scrapped, it was painted over. A few units (especially those away from home and family) still allowed it, but it would take Korea to begin a renaissance of nose art.
Though American top ace Richard Bong flew several P-38s--some named and some not--most of his 40 kills were flown in P-38L 44-532236, named "Marge" in honor of his fiancee (and later wife), Marge Vattendahl. Bong had the name on his P-38 for that time period, though I've heard conflicting reports on whether or not Marge's portrait was on the aircraft the whole time, or it was added later as a public relations tool. (A similar thing happened to Erich Hartmann, who is often photographed with the kill score on his rudder--but according to Hartmann, he never flew with the score operationally, as "the Russians hated me enough already.") Certainly no one would've begrudged Bong for having her portrait--Marge was a very attractive woman!
This P-38 is not the real "Marge," which is believed to have been wrecked or scrapped soon after the war's end. (Though Bong was killed on August 6, 1945, he was flying a P-80 at the time.) This is 44-53087, a former P-38M that did see brief combat in 1945, before becoming a warbird after World War II and ending up in the EAA AirVenture Museum in 1981. I photographed this version of "Marge" in 2018 when we visited Oshkosh. It's marked with 24 of Bong's kills, so this is how "Marge" would've looked around late 1944.
Somewhere on the train ride from Kandy to Haputale. Communication was almost nonexistent and only nonverbal, but I really think they wanted to have a photo taken. Bit shaky because there wasn't much light :-/ (I added some brightness with gimp...)
And unfortunately we didn't manage to get a written address where to send it to....
Very cool house but fugly outside, no garage or driveway. Unclear if it's properly heated or insulated, it was 45 degrees in there and we want to go for a second tour when the heat is on. This is the huge dining room, pillars to the left lead to similarly enormous living room w/ tiny weird carpeted "office" room (barely big enough to hold a toy chest and a chair.
I don't know, this place has other issues. Upstairs bedrooms have short ceilings (like 7 feet instead of 8, but you feel squished) and crappy/nonexistent closets. Carpet upstairs needs replacing. We wouldn't get approved for a loan until a banister is put in on the stairs. There is no driveway, no garage. No basement for storage, but we could easily use an extra upstairs bedroom for storage, like we do now. Exterior could be painted from its hideous mustard color to be a bit more palatable. Yard is wet, mossy and dark, not suited for gardening, can't do much about that.
HELP!! The label says this is from Tsumeb, where pyromorphite has been noted once or twice, but is thought to be almost nonexistent. Does anyone have any thoughts on what those brown transparent crystals might be?
This fighter doesn't exist. It has an ejectable seat, flick fire missiles and other missiles. I know, lots of missiles, here's a video of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd5H6bZNybU